Christoph Waltz
Christoph Waltz | |
|---|---|
 Waltz at the 2017 Vienna International Film Festival | |
| Born | (1956-10-04) 4 October 1956 Vienna, Austria |
| Citizenship |
|
| Alma mater | Max Reinhardt Seminar |
| Occupation | Actor, director, voice actor |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Spouse(s) | Judith Holste |
| Children | 4 |
| Awards | Full list |
Christoph Waltz (German: [ˈkrɪstɔf ˈvalts]; born 4 October 1956) is a German-Austrian actor and director.[1][2][3]
He is widely known for his works with American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, receiving critical acclaim for portraying SS officer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) and bounty hunter King Schultz in Django Unchained (2012). For both performances, he earned an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Waltz also received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Landa.[4]
Waltz portrayed computer genius Qohen Leth in the science fiction film The Zero Theorem (2013), American plagiarist Walter Keane in the biographical film Big Eyes (2014), and James Bond's nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre (2015), the twenty-fourth Bond film.[5]
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 Filmography
4.1 Film
4.2 Television
4.3 As director
5 Accolades
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Early life
Waltz was born in Vienna, the son of Johannes Waltz and Elisabeth Urbancic, set and costume designers, from Germany and Austria respectively.[6] His maternal grandfather, Rudolf von Urban, was a psychiatrist and psychologist who wrote the book Sex Perfection and Marital Happiness.[7] His maternal grandmother was Burgtheater actress Maria Mayen, and his step-grandfather was actor Emmerich Reimers. His great-grandparents also worked in theatre.[8]
Career
Waltz in 2012
Waltz studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. In the late 1970s, Waltz spent some time in New York City where he studied method acting with Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler. He started as a stage actor, performing at venues such as Zurich's Schauspielhaus Zürich, Vienna's Burgtheater, and the Salzburg Festival. He became a prolific television actor in the years 1980 to 2000. In 2000, he made his directorial debut, with the German television production Wenn man sich traut.[9] Before coming to the attention of a larger audience in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds he had played Dr. Hans-Joachim Dorfmann in the British TV series The Gravy Train in 1990. The show is a story of intrigue and misdeeds set in the offices of the European Union in Brussels.[10]
In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Waltz portrayed SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa, aka "The Jew Hunter". Clever, courteous, and multilingual — but also self-serving, cunning, implacable, and murderous — the character of Landa was such that Tarantino feared he "might have written a part that was un-playable".[11] Waltz received the Best Actor Award for the performance at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and received acclaim from critics and the public. In 2009, he began sweeping critics' awards circuits, receiving awards for Best Supporting Actor from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Boston Society of Film Critics,[12] Los Angeles Film Critics Association,[12] and for Best Supporting Actor at the 67th Golden Globe Awards and the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards in January 2010.
The following month, he won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor,[13] and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[14] He is the only actor to have won an Academy Award for playing a character in a Tarantino film. Tarantino acknowledged the importance of Waltz to his film by stating: "I think that Landa is one of the best characters I've ever written and ever will write, and Christoph played it to a tee. It's true that if I couldn't have found someone as good as Christoph I might not have made Inglourious Basterds".[15]
Waltz played gangster Benjamin Chudnofsky in The Green Hornet (2011); that same year, he starred in Water for Elephants and Roman Polanski's Carnage. He played German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012), a role Tarantino wrote specifically for Waltz.[16] During a training accident prior to filming, Waltz injured his pelvis.[17] His role garnered him acclaim once again, with Waltz winning the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, and ultimately the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Waltz has been cast as the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the film Reykjavik, based on the 1986 peace talks between the United States and USSR.[18] In April 2013, he was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.[19] He directed a production of the opera Der Rosenkavalier at the Vlaamse Opera, in Antwerp in late 2013, and in Ghent early 2014.[20] In 2014, he was selected as a member of the jury for the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.[21] He starred as Walter Keane in Tim Burton's Big Eyes, which opened on 25 December 2014,[22] and appeared as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre, the 24th film in the James Bond franchise.[23]
In 2015, it was announced that Waltz will direct and star in the film The Worst Marriage in Georgetown, which is based on the true crime story of the murder of Viola Drath.[24] In July 2016, he portrayed lead villain Captain Leon Rom, a corrupt Belgian captain, in the reboot The Legend of Tarzan.
In 2017, Waltz appeared in the films Tulip Fever and Downsizing. In 2018, Waltz is set to appear in the action fantasy Alita: Battle Angel. He directed a production of the opera Falstaff, again at the Vlaamse Opera, in Antwerp in late 2017, and in Ghent early 2018.
Personal life
Waltz and Judith Holste at the 82nd Academy Awards, March 2010
Waltz has three children with his former wife.[25] He is raising a daughter (b. 2005) with his second wife, costume designer Judith Holste.[26] They divide their time among Berlin, London, and Los Angeles.[27]
Waltz's native language is German and he is fluent in English and French.[28] He speaks all three of these in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, and although his character in Inglourious Basterds also spoke Italian, Waltz said on the Adam Carolla Podcast that he is not fluent in Italian.[citation needed] He is his own voice actor for both the French and German dubs of each film.
Waltz was born in Vienna to a German father who applied for him to become a citizen of Germany after his birth.[29] He received Austrian citizenship in 2010, thus holding citizenships of both Austria and Germany, but considers his German passport a "legal, citizenship law banality"[3] despite the fact that he had not previously been able to vote in Austria's national elections. Asked whether he felt Viennese, he responded: "I was born in Vienna, grew up in Vienna, went to school in Vienna, graduated in Vienna, studied in Vienna, started acting in Vienna – and there would be a few further Viennese links. How much more Austrian do you want it?"[30]
In 2018, his image was used without permission as part of a hoax by conservative Jacob Wohl in an apparent attempt to derail the Special Counsel Investigation of Donald Trump by using his image for a fictitious financial investigator.[31]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Breakthrough | Paramedic | Andrew V. McLaglen | Uncredited |
| 1981 | Headstand | Markus | Veith von Fürstenberg | |
| 1982 | Fire and Sword | Tristan | ||
| 1986 | Wahnfried | Friedrich Nietzsche | Peter Patzak | |
| 1988 | Quicker Than the Eye | Police Chief | Nicolas Gessner | |
| 1989 | Goldeneye | German spy | ||
| 1991 | Life for Life: Maximilian Kolbe | Jan Tytz | Krzysztof Zanussi | Credited as Chistopher Waltz |
| 1995 | The Start of Something | Herbert | Nikolaus Leytner | |
| 1997 | Our God's Brother | Maksymilian Gierymski | Krzysztof Zanussi | |
| 1998 | Seven Moons | Kom. Becker | Peter Fratzscher | |
| Love Scenes from Planet Earth | Charly | Marc Rothemund | ||
| 1999 | The Bride | Karl August | Egon Günther | |
| 2000 | Ordinary Decent Criminal | Peter | Thaddeus O'Sullivan | |
| Falling Rocks | Louis | Peter Keglevic | ||
| Death, Deceit and Destiny Aboard the Orient Express | Ossama / Tarik | Mark Roper | ||
| 2001 | Queen's Messenger | Ali Ben Samm | Mark Roper | |
| She | Michael Vincey | Timothy Bond | ||
| 2003 | Angst | Psychoanalyst | Oskar Roehler | |
| Gun-Shy | Johannsen | Dito Tsintsadze | ||
| Berlin Blues | Doctor | Leander Haußmann | ||
| 2004 | Pact with the Devil | Rolf Steiner | Allan A. Goldstein | |
| 2006 | Lapislazuli: In the Eyes of the Bear | Czerny | Wolfgang Murnberger | |
| 2009 | Inglourious Basterds | Col. Hans Landa | Quentin Tarantino | |
| 2011 | The Green Hornet | Benjamin Chudnofsky / Bloodnofsky | Michel Gondry | |
| Water for Elephants | August Rosenbluth | Francis Lawrence | ||
| The Three Musketeers | Cardinal Richelieu | Paul W. S. Anderson | ||
| Carnage | Alan Cowan | Roman Polanski | ||
| 2012 | Django Unchained | Dr. King Schultz | Quentin Tarantino | |
| 2013 | Epic | Mandrake (voice) | Chris Wedge | |
| The Zero Theorem | Qohen Leth | Terry Gilliam | Also co-producer | |
| 2014 | Muppets Most Wanted | Himself | James Bobin | Cameo |
| Horrible Bosses 2 | Burt Hanson | Sean Anders | ||
| Big Eyes | Walter Keane | Tim Burton | ||
| 2015 | Spectre | Ernst Stavro Blofeld | Sam Mendes | |
| 2016 | The Legend of Tarzan | Léon Rom | David Yates | |
| 2017 | Tulip Fever | Cornelis Sandvoort | Justin Chadwick | |
| Downsizing | Dusan Mirkovic | Alexander Payne | ||
| 2019 | Alita: Battle Angel | Dr. Dyson Ido | Robert Rodriguez | Post-production |
| Georgetown | Ulrich Mott | Himself | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Am dam des | (singer) | |
| 1977 | Der Einstand | Gunther Vesley | Television film |
| 1979 | Feuer! | Karl Albrecht Schlick | Television film |
Parole Chicago | Eduard "Ede" Bredo | 13 episodes | |
| 1982 | The Mysterious Stranger | Ernst Wasserman | Television film |
Dr. Margarete Johnsohn | Rainer | Television film | |
| 1983 | Der Sandmann | Nathanael | Television film |
| 1985 | Ein Fall für zwei | Alf | Episode: "Blutsbande" |
| 1986 | The Old Fox | Hans Baumeister | Episode: "Zwei Leben" |
Derrick | Eberhard Bothe | Episode: "Schonzeit für Mörder" | |
Lenz oder die Freiheit | Franz Sigel | Television miniseries | |
| 1987 | Tatort | Inspektor Passini | Episode: "Wunschlos tot" |
Das andere Leben | Stefan | Television film | |
| 1988 | The Alien Years | Stefan Mueller | Television series |
Derrick | Schumann | Episode: "Mord inklusive" | |
| 1989 | Goldeneye | German spy | Television film |
| 1990 | The Gravy Train | Dr. Hans-Joachim Dorfmann | 4 episodes |
The Old Fox | Christian Kamp | Episode: "So gut wie tot" | |
| 1991 | The Gravy Train Goes East | Dr. Hans-Joachim Dorfmann | 4 episodes |
| 1992 | 5 Zimmer, Küche, Bad | Hartwig Klemmnitz | Television film |
Die Angst wird bleiben | Manfred | Television film | |
| 1993 | König der letzten Tage (also known as A King for Burning) | John of Leiden | Television film |
| 1994 | Tag der Abrechnung – Der Amokläufer von Euskirchen | Erwin Mikolajczyk | Television film |
Jacob | Morash | Television film | |
Die Staatsanwältin | Andreas Doepke | Television film | |
| 1995 | The All New Alexei Sayle Show | Weak Moustache | Episode #2.3 |
Prinz zu entsorgen | Roman | Television film | |
Man(n) sucht Frau | Christoph | Television film | |
Catherine the Great | Mirovich | Television film | |
| 1996 | Der Tourist | Stephan Görner | Television film |
Du bist nicht allein – Die Roy Black Story | Roy Black | Television film | |
Rosa Roth | Wietze | Episode: "Nirgendwohin" | |
Rex: A Cop's Best Friend | Martin Wolf | Episode: "Der Puppenmörder" | |
| 1997 | Maître Da Costa | Walter Mueller | 2 episodes |
Faust | Gerhardt Schulze-Leitner | Episode: "Villa Palermo" | |
Schimanski | Klaus Mandel | Episode: "Blutsbrüder" | |
| 1998 | Vickys Alptraum | Johnny | Television film |
Schock – Eine Frau in Angst | Kommissar Kaul | Television film | |
The Final Game | Kant | Television film | |
Rache für mein totes Kind | Paul | Television film | |
Mörderisches Erbe – Tausch mit einer Toten | Moritz Fink | Television film | |
| 1999 | Dessine-moi un jouet | Klaus Hermann | Television film |
| 2000 | The Beast (also known as Das Teufelsweib) | Herbert Fink | Television film |
| 2001 | Engel sucht Flügel | Caspari | Television film |
Riekes Liebe | Pair skating coach Karlhoff | Television film | |
Der Tanz mit dem Teufel | Dieter Cilov | Television film | |
| 2002 | Dienstreise – Was für eine Nacht | Klaus-Dieter Lehmann | Television film |
Weihnachtsmann gesucht | Johannes Böhmke | Television film | |
| 2003 | Jagd auf den Flammenmann | Brisky | Television film |
Der Mörder ist unter uns (also known as Der Fall Gehring) | Martin Bach | Television film | |
Zwei Tage Hoffnung | Michael Berg | Television film | |
Jennerwein | Pföderl | Television film | |
Tigeraugen sehen besser | Dr. Thilo Rylow | Television film | |
| 2004 | Scheidungsopfer Mann | Benedikt von Arn | Television film |
Mörderische Suche | Richard Benedek | Television film | |
Schöne Witwen küssen besser | Jean-France | Television film | |
| 2005 | Die Patriarchin | Wolf Sevening | 3 episodes |
Der Elefant: Mord verjährt nie | Richard Seemann | Episode: "Verlorene Jahre" | |
| 2006 | SOKO Rhein-Main | Andreas Senner | Episode: "Schuld und Sühne" |
Polizeiruf 110 | Dr. Juris Gríns | Episode: "Die Lettin und ihr Lover" | |
Stolberg | Paul Büttner | Episode: "Kreuzbube" | |
Tatort | Prof. Robert Henze | Episode: "Schlaflos in Weimar" | |
Franziskas Gespür für Männer | Karl Löwen | Television film | |
| 2007 | Der Staatsanwalt | Dr. Claudius Tressen | Episode: "Glückskinder" |
Der letzte Zeuge | Dr. Martin York | Episode: "Martinspassion" | |
Unter Verdacht | Thomas Sell | Episode: "Hase and Igel" | |
Die Zürcher Verlobung – Drehbuch zur Liebe | Frank "Büffel" Arbogast | Television film | |
Die Verzauberung | Dr. Helmut Bahr | Television film | |
| 2008 | Das Geheimnis im Wald | Hans Kortmann | Television film |
Todsünde | Sebastian Flies | Television film | |
Das jüngste Gericht | Peters | Television film | |
Die Anwälte | Herbert Jahn | Episode: "Leben und Tod" | |
Tatort | Gerd Weißenbach | Episode: "Liebeswirren" | |
| 2013 | Saturday Night Live | Host | Episode: "Christoph Waltz/Alabama Shakes" |
As director
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Wenn man sich traut | ||
| TBA | Georgetown[32] |
Accolades
See also
- List of German-speaking Academy Award winners and nominees
References
^ "Pass-Hickhack: Christoph Waltz wird im Eilverfahren zum Österreicher – Nachrichten Kultur" (in German). Welt.de. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2011..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Der Standard: Österreichische Staatsbürgerschaft für Christoph Waltz, 8 August 2010
^ ab "Waltz fühlt sich definitiv als Österreicher – Boulevard". Focus.de. 21 January 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
^ "stories99.com". stories99.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
^ Miller, Ross (4 December 2014). "The next James Bond film is called Spectre: new car, poster, and full cast confirmed". The Verge. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
^ "Mainpost". MAIN-POST. 24 May 2010. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
^ Myself not least: a confessional autobiography of a psychoanalyst and some explanatory history cases, by Rudolf von Urban, p. 210
^ Lim, Dennis (12 August 2009). "'Inglourious' Actor Tastes the Glory". New York Times. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
^ "IMDB". Retrieved 17 December 2011.
^ "4oD Drama". Retrieved 27 January 2013.
^ Fleming, Michael (17 May 2009). "Tarantino Reflects On 'Basterds'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
^ ab "BSFC Award Winners – Recent". Thebsfc.org. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
^ Film Awards Winners in 2010 - Film Awards - Film - The BAFTA site Archived 27 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
^ "2015 Oscars: Nominees - 87th Academy Awards Nominations". Oscar.com.
^ "''Inglorious Basterds feature". Network.nationalpost.com. The National Post. 27 August 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
[permanent dead link]
^ Ordoña, Michael (27 December 2012), "Christoph Waltz admires Tarantino's to-the-heart style", Los Angeles Times, retrieved 12 January 2016
^ Borys Kit (30 September 2011). "Christoph Waltz Dislocates Pelvic Bone During 'Django Unchained' Training". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
^ "Christoph Waltz Signs to Star Opposite Michael Douglas in Reykjavik". The Hollywood Reporter. 15 October 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
^ Saperstein, Pat (23 April 2013). "Nicole Kidman, Christoph Waltz, Ang Lee Among Cannes Jury Members". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
^ "Vlaamse Opera | Vlaamse Opera". Vlaamseopera.be. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
^ "Berlinale 2014: International Jury". Berlinale. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
^ Sepinwall, Alan (2 May 2014). "Weinstein sets awards season dates for Big Eyes, Imitation Game and Eleanor Rigby". Hitfix.com. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
^ Polowy, Kevin (7 November 2015). "So Who Does Christoph Waltz Play in 'SPECTRE'? (Spoilers!)". Yahoo!. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
^ Andrews, Helena (6 May 2015). "Actor Christoph Waltz will direct and star in 'The Worst Marriage in Georgetown'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
^ Dennis Lim (12 August 2009). "'Inglourious' Actor Tastes the Glory". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
^ Freydkin, Donna (26 January 2010). "At long last, movie stardom shines on Christoph Waltz". USA Today.
^ Profile of Waltz at Global Post
^ Billington, Alex (20 August 2009). "Interview: Col. Hans 'The Jew Hunter' Landa – Christoph Waltz". First Showing. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
^ "Waltz to become Austrian citizen". Wiener Zeitung Online. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
^ "Waltz to become an Austrian citizen". 26 August 2010.
[permanent dead link]
^ "The Unintelligent Design of SureFire Intelligence". 30 October 2018.
^ Ritman, Alex. "Cannes: Christoph Waltz's Directorial Debut Adds Vanessa Redgrave". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christoph Waltz. |
Christoph Waltz on IMDb- Christoph Waltz interviews on Charlie Rose
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Heath Ledger (posthumous) for The Dark Knight | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 2009 for Inglourious Basterds | Succeeded by Christian Bale for The Fighter |
| Preceded by Christopher Plummer for Beginners | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 2012 for Django Unchained | Succeeded by Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club |
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